Four day Croydon Tramlink strike to go ahead after 'bad faith' talks

A strike is set to begin this weekend on the Croydon Tramlink after a union accused Transport for London (TfL) of “bad faith” in negotiations.

Unite is holding the walkout from 8pm on Sunday to 6am on Thursday with up to 60 engineers on the south London network set to down tools over pay disparities.

Unite called the strike on Thursday stating that they wanted the pay of tram drivers to come into line with London Underground staff. They said that Tube workers can earn up to £10,000 more for equivalent roles despite both needing the same qualifications.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is outrageous that TfL somehow thinks it is acceptable to be systemically underpaying highly skilled workers who are essential to keep the tram system functioning.

“TfL was negotiating in bad faith by breaking its promises and withholding information. Unite’s patience has run out with TfL’s disgraceful double-dealing and lack of transparency.

“Our members will now be embarking on strike action and they will have the complete support of their union Unite behind them.”

It comes after strike action had been cancelled for March when both sides reached a resolution.

A Transport for London spokesperson said: “We would never enter conversations in bad faith, and have been open and honest throughout the process.

“We have agreed to work with union colleagues to identify equivalent roles in London Underground, assess any disparity in overall benefits packages, and where agreed take action where appropriate. This will take time and we have asked that this strike action is suspended to allow this to happen.

"We remain committed to continued dialogue to reach a conclusion and ask the union to suspend this action, which will only cause unnecessary inconvenience for our customers.”